Gear-retaining device



Feb. 4, 1930. D. JACQUES GEAR RETAINING DEVICE Filed May 7. 192 s gnue'ntoz Patented Feb. 4.1 1930 I f i i e UNITED Y STATES PATENT ()FFICE nArrAsE JAoounsQornnrnorniviioinean I i Q i V GEAR-RETAINING DEVICE 7 Application filed May '7, 1926. Serial No. 7,2452! This invention relates to a gear retainon a deck or support by angle 3 or other v I ingdevicefor winches and-is an improve securing means. The frames 1 and 2 are ment in connection withthat type of winch spaced apart bysleeves 4 and' 5 on tie rods 6 disclosed in my Patents Nos. 1,059,998, connecting what may be considered as the up-.

' 5 granted April 29, 1913;"1,125,107, granted per endsof the framesland 2,while the lower .Jan. 19,1915, and 1,564,417, grante'd'Dec. '8, ends of said frames are connected by longi- 1925f: Y I Y 4 .tudinal' frames? and 8, preferably in the form In raising a life boat from it's cradle it is of channel barszhaving end flanges attached essential that the boat be as level as possible, to the confronting faces of the frames land 2. '10 therefore provision is made for taking up Mounted in the end frames land 2 is. a

any slack in fall lines or boat connections. shaft 9 and rotatableon said shaft are coaxial It is in thisconnection that-one end of the hoisting drums 10 and 1l,"sai.d drums having b at-ma.y be lower thanthe other, so proouter heads l2'formed withperipheral teeth vision is made for placing the boat on even so as to'affor'd large gear wheels-13 bywhich 15keel. andthis is accomplished by an adjustsaid-drums'may be rotated, as will hereinafter ment-in connection with the driving means appear. .'r11earu m's 101-and11 havefinner ofthe .winchflSuch adjustment isby a mech confronting heads 14 forming an annular 'anism other than the'usual-Jform of clutch, groove, or shoe-way 15 which, in cross secfor instance as shown'in my- Patent Nor tion,tapers'inwardly.fromjthe'peripheries I V 2 1,564,417 the mechanism being of such nature ,Of the heads 14 t0.approximately the axis;

25 proof.

' ac'wherein. f

that it cannot .beacoidentally shifted during 0f the drums. I

, y. xcit t incid nt to the manipulation Attached to the longitudinal frame 7 is of a life saving boat, consequently the winch bracket 16 and pivotally connected to said I 1 l possesses the characteristic of being fool bracket, as at'17, is an arcuate lever or shoe Other advantages gaified by my improved has awedge PO ItlOII'li I the gI'OOV 15. The winch Willbe apparent froma description] lever or sh-oe 18ghas a lateral, portion :eX- ofthe winch" construction and its operation, tending between, the longitudinal frame 8,,

o reference will n w b h dt' th d a i and the sleeve 5 and on the free end of said I .7 lever is a pad19which maybe pressed, by s Figure '1 is a plan of the winch; I hand orfoot, to wedge, the lever or h .be Fig.2 is a-verticalcross secti'onaLview-of W Iit dr mheads l'and retard, if' 'not the winch taken on the vliI1'e.II I IFig. 1'; eventuallystop rotation ofv either drum-1001 Fig; 3 is a front elevation'of the winch; 11, hen one or the other of-said drums v Fig. 4 is a longitudinalsectional'view of heldstationary, or both'ofsaid drums.

i 1 40' V+V of Fig. 1, and

co-axial drums adapted to form part ofthe A coiledretractilespring 20.connects the winch; I v v j freeend ofthelever18 tothesleeve5 andthe- Fig. 5is a longitudinal sectional view ofan retractile fOI' B of saidfspring is sufficient-to operatingshaft of thewinch takenon the line hold thejlever 18-so'that either or both drums v I maybe rotated. so I Fig; 6 is acrosssectionalview taken on the T e O er; Walls of the frames 1' and 2 are 4 line VI-'VI of Fig. H I providedwith longitudinally alining bear-f Aswith my former winches, ,there is a ings 21 and journaled in said bearings and" p substantial framework'whichis mounted on, the frames land 2 is a longitudinaldrive 145." a vessel or may be attached to a-davit orseshaft 22. 1

cured to any suitable support in proximity 1 Centrally" of the driving shaft 22 is a fixed to a boat cradle or boat to be'swung outboard --spool 23 and splined or'otherwise slidably V and lowered to the water. mounted on the drive shaft 22 between the The framework is composed of end frames ends of the spool 23 and the frames 1 and so: land 2 and these endframes maybe secured 2, are small. gear wheels 24normally meshing 3.00

.18 which extends between the heads Hand 7 small gear wheels 24 onthe driveshaft. The

spacing members are detachable in order that they may be removed to permit of elther small gear wheel 24 being shifted towards an end- 1'' of the spool 23 to disengage it from its large gear wheel 13. This arrangement is provided in order that either of the drums 1O or'11 may be driven from the drive shaft 22 independent of the other drum. Furthermore, while one drum is held stationary, against an unwinding operation as will hereinafter appear, the other drum may be rotated to take up any slack of a line attached to and wound on the drum, n

The operation of removing eitherof the spacing members requires a positive and understanding movement, so that an attendant of the winch positively'knows what he is doing when removing one of the spacing members to shift one of the small gear wheels. This is in contradistinction to any lever actuated clutch mechanism that might control the driving relation between the drive shaft 22 and the drums 10 and 11. In my Patent No. 1,564,417 there is an outwardlyextending clutch lever and during the excitement of a life saving operation, this clutch member might be actuated to a disadvantage, so 1n building this winch I have almed to make the same fool proof by eliminating any protruding lever that might be accidentally actuated and result in an accident. It isto be noted that these spacing members are rotatable with the shaft and constitute means carried thereby, wholly within a small compass, less than that of the small gear wheels 24, for holding-the small gear wheels against 7 any sliding movement, yet permitting of either gear wheel being shifted when one drum is to be rotated or adjusted independent of the other. 7

Attached to the sleeve 5 and wound about the spool 23 is a flexible member 26 that may have two or three convolutions or'wrappings on' the spool and its free end provided with a weight or counterbalance 27. To prevent this weight or counterbalance from unduly swinging about it may be attached by' a member 28to the longitudinal frame 8.-

The flexible member 26 constitutes a friction governor for controlling rotation of the drive shaft 22 and lowering of a predetermined load, as will hereinafter appear. a r The inner walls of the frames 1 and 2 ar provided with pivoted weighted gravity pawls 29 normally engaging the large gear wheels v13 to prevent an unwinding operation of the drums 10 and 11 and any cable or flexible member 30 attached to and wound on said drums.

Either end of the drive shaft 22 may be provided with a crank or source of power for driving the shaft 22 and the drums 11 and 12. I prefer to provide thatend of the drive shaft 22, adjacent the frame 2, with a fixed brake wheel 31, and surround said brake wheel with a brake band 32 provided with a crank 33 by which rotation may be imparted to the drive shaft 22 when the brake band 32 is clamped on the brake wheel 31 by a set screw 34 or other band adjusting means. This brake band will afiordbraking means for the drive shaft 22 when the crank 33 is ield stationary, which may be accomplished by providing the end frame 2 with a pivoted bracket 35. This bracket may bear against the end wall 2, as shown in Fig. 3,.

and form an abutment to prevent counterclockwise movement of the crank 33. Then by tightening or loosening the set screw 34 the brake band 33 may control rotation of the drive shaft 22 and the drums 10 and 11 incident to lowering any load on a cable at tached to either drum. 7

Supported from the longitudinal frame 8 are sheaves 36 for control lines 37 and.38.

These control linesextend'under the sheaves and upwardly towards the spool 23. The control line38 is wound about the spool 23, possibly two or more convolutions or wrappings'and has its end attached to the sleeve 5, as at 39. The control line 37, preferably a wire cable, is connected to the free end of the lever 18, as at 40. For the purpose of construction of the winch as well as theimprovements, Ihave shown the cable 30 in Fig.

2 as provided with a load, representing a life saving boat or an end thereof. Assuming that the life saving boat has'been raised from its deck cradle and swung outboard by 'davits, the lifeboat tends to race or accelerate counterclockwise rotation of the drums 10 and 11, viewing Fig. 2. If'such racing were permitted there would be a dangerous impact of the life boat with the water tending to capsize the life boat. celeration or racing of a descendingboat, the friction governor is used in connection with the spool: 23- and the weight or counterbal ance 27 is proportioned to the weight of a loaded life-boat so that there will be enough. slippage of the flexible member 26' on thespool 23 to permitof the drums unwinding and a loaded life-boat gradually descending.

This descent may be manually controlled from the lifeboat by either of the lines 37 or 38, the former being preferably a wire cable, so that in case of fire abroad a vessel the line 37 cannot be quickly destroyed. This.

line controls rotation of either of the drums To prevent this acand 11, when one or the other of said drums is otherwise held stationary, but when said drums control the lowering of both ends of the boat, the drums 10 and 11 are free to revolve under the control ofthe leverv18. This lever being connectedto the line 37 permits of occupants of the boat stopping descent at i will. The line 37may be used only in emergency, because the line 38 wrapped on the spool 23'can also be usedfoi stopping the drums at will. I

During the operation of the drums l0 and V 11 the gravity pawls 29 are thrown out of engagement with the large gear wheels 13,"said gravity pawls constituting looking devices for holding the drumsagainst accidentalrotation when not otherwise controlled.

stantially' U-shaped clip spring onsaid shaft, in engagementwith said gear and surrounding'member, and having out-turned extremities whereby it, may be expanded and re-- moved from said shaft, said extremities being disposed in a field closely surrounding saidshafti 3. A spacer for retaining a gear out-turned extremities whereby it may readily be expanded and removed from the shaft;

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

- DAMASE JACQUES.

When a life saving boat'is' being-raised in its cradle and it is discovered that some of the hoisting cables are slack, such cables may be made taut by removing one of the 1 spacing members 25, shifting the'small gear wheel 24 associated therewith out of engagement with the large gear wheel, then rotating thedrum to take up the slack hoisting f cable, replace the small gear wheel-in'mesh c with the-large gear wheel, and thenreplacing the spacing member. As pointed out in thebeginning, this is a positive operation that must be performed at the 'drive' shaft 22. The operator has time to realize just what he is doingand the possibility of doing" the wrong thing is practically removed. In other WO1ClS, there are no protruding levers or devices that may be accidentallyf shifted to cause an accident. The spacing members constitute quick detachable means to'permit ,-of the small gear -wheels being manually 7 r shifted and it is by virtue of such means that all hoisting cables may, be maintained in propervrelation to the drumslO and 11 for maintaining a'life boat or any other load on .an even keel.

My former winches have been mounted on a vessel deck in proximity to davits, and it is believed that these improvements further perfect the winches and materiallyreducethe cost of manufaCture- While in the drawing there is illustrated avpreferredembodiment of my invention it is to be understood that the structural elements are susceptible to such variations and -modificationsas fall f I within the scope of the appendedclaims. v

What I claim is t v 1. In combination with a shaft having a 7 gear slidable thereon and another surrounding member mounted thereon, and a sub- 1 stantially U-shaped clip spring on said'shaft,

in engagement with said gear and surrounding member, and having out-turned extrem- 1 ities whereby it may be expanded and re flmoved from said shaft.

2.'In combination with a shaft having a gear slidable thereon and-another surroundmg member mounted thereon, and a sub:

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